Author: Jeanie Rooklin

The DEADLY SINS Checklist
Sentence Fragments
A SENTENCE FRAGMENT fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause. There are several reasons why a group of words may seem to act like a sentence but not have the wherewithal to make it as a complete thought.
It may locate something in time and place with a prepositional phrase or a series of such phrases, but it's still lacking a proper subject-verb relationship within an independent clause: 
In Japan, during the last war and just before the armistice.
It describes something, but there is no subject-verb relationship: 
Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little boat.
It may have most of the makings of a sentence but still be missing an important part of a verb string: 
Some of the students working in Professor Espinoza's laboratory last semester.

It may even have a subject-verb relationship, but it has been subordinated to another idea by a dependent word and so cannot stand by itself: 
Even though he had the better arguments and was by far the more powerful speaker.
 
Run-on (run-together) Sentences
A RUN-ON SENTENCE has at least two parts, either one of which can stand by itself (in other words, two independent clauses), but the two parts have been smooshed together instead of being properly connected.
It is important to realize that the length of a sentence really has nothing to do with whether a sentence is a run-on or not; being a run-on is a structural flaw that can plague even a very short sentence: 
The sun is high, put on some sunblock.
An extremely long sentence, on the other hand, might be a "run-off-at-the-mouth" sentence, but it can be otherwise sound, structurally. 
When two independent clauses are connected by only a comma, they constitute a run-on sentence that is called a comma-splice. The example just above (about the sunscreen) is a comma-splice. When you use a comma to connect two independent clauses, it must be accompanied by a little conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so). 
The sun is high, so put on some sunscreen.
 
Agreement Problems: Subject/verb — Pronoun/antecedent
Basic Principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs. 
My brother is a nutritionist. My sisters are mathematicians.
•	The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.
Everyone has done his or her homework. 
Somebody has left her purse. 
•	Some indefinite pronouns — such as all, some — are singular or plural depending on what they're referring to. (Is the thing referred to countable or not?) Be careful choosing a verb to accompany such pronouns.
Some of the beads are missing. 
Some of the water is gone. 

•	Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along with will modify the earlier word (mayor in this case), but it does not compound the subjects (as the word and would do).
The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison. 
The mayor and his brothers are going to jail. 
•	The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things. 
Neither of the two traffic lights is working. 
Which shirt do you want for Christmas?
Either is fine with me.
•	The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Whether the subject comes before or after the verb doesn't matter; the proximity determines the number. 
Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house. 
Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house. 
Are either my brothers or my father responsible? 
Is either my father or my brothers responsible?
Because a sentence like "Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house" sounds peculiar, it is probably a good idea to put the plural subject closer to the verb whenever that is possible.
•	The words there and here are never subjects. 
There are two reasons [plural subject] for this. 
There is no reason for this. 
Here are two apples.
	 
Consistency Problems: Pronouns — Verb tense

In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, we find the narrator to be one of the few successful characters in terms of moral development. However, even the narrator, you soon realize, is seriously flawed. [We've shifted from the first-person plural "we" (quite common when writing about literature) to the second-person, singular "you."]
Repair Work | In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, we find the narrator to be one of the few successful characters in terms of moral development. However, even the narrator, we soon realize, is seriously flawed.
In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, the narrator is one of the few truly successful characters in terms of moral development. However, she was also seriously flawed in some ways.
Repair Work | In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, the narrator is one of the few truly successful characters in terms of moral development. However, she is also seriously flawed in some ways.

Faulty Parallelism
Faulty Parallelism | Corrected Version
The French, the Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese | The French, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese
In spring, summer, or in winter | In spring, summer, or winter (In spring, in summer, or in winter)

Correlative expressions (both, and; not, but; not only, but also; either, or; first, second, third; and the like) should be followed by the same grammatical construction. Many violations of this rule can be corrected by rearranging the sentence. 
Faulty Parallelism | Corrected Version
It was both a long ceremony and very tedious. | The ceremony was both long and tedious.
A time not for words, but action | A time not for words, but for action
Either you must grant his request or incur his ill will. | You must either grant his request or incur his ill will.
My objections are, first, the injustice of the measure; second, that it is unconstitutional. | My objections are, first, that the measure is unjust; second, that it is unconstitutional.

When making comparisons, the things you compare should be couched in parallel structures whenever that is possible and appropriate.
Faulty Parallelism | Corrected Version
My income is smaller than my wife. | My income is smaller than my wife's.